Biggles & the Gibraltar Bomb words | Reg Reynolds
It took Biggles, the great British flying ace and adventurer, 50 years to make it to Gibraltar and it was a couple of Scandinavians who got him here. Captain W.E. Johns created James Bigglesworth in the 1930s but it was Swede Jerk Stander (pen name for Boris Persson), who wrote, and Dane Stig Stjernvik, who illustrated, Biggles and the Gibraltar Bomb, which was published in 1984. The Bomb book, a large comic-style production with a stiff cover, is set in June 1939 and is about a German spy’s attempt to blow up Gibraltar with an atomic bomb. At the same time as the plot is being put into action, Biggles and his pal Algy are in Cairo on a mission for the British Museum. Thanks to the debonair Algy’s dalliance with an Egyptian woman they are forced to flee. They fly to Spain and wind up in Algeciras where Biggles spots his arch-villain Captain Erich Von Stalhein. Convinced that Von Stalhein is up to no good Biggles uncovers the plot and through a variety of fights, chases, and a romance (with his former lover Marie Janis) he saves the day. Considering the title of the book there are few recognisable illustrations of Gibraltar and the section of the Rock depicted on the cover is out of focus behind the figures of Von Stahlein and Biggles and a beautifully drawn Junker JU 52 transport. The lack of Gibraltar scenes is not surprising considering when I contacted the illustrator, Stig Stjernvik, by e-mail he told me he had not been to Gibraltar when he drew the illustrations. He did add, however, that he has been here since and likes the Rock and its people very much. He said he even considered moving here. In one e-mail Stig wrote: “I must admit I made those Biggles books. They are not good. I have done better things. I had in those days never been to Gibraltar. Now I have been there several times.” I also asked Stig if he had ever met Captain Johns. “No, I have never met W.E. Johns,” replied Stig. “I worked for a Swedish company, Bonnier. They must have got some rights from Johns, since they asked me to do some books. I would very much like to do more, but I have lost contact to the company. Nevertheless I have done some new pages about Biggles. They are now in my archive — just waiting for a new publisher.” Biggles fans, and there are legions, will be hoping Stig finds that publisher. William Earl Johns was born in Hertford, England on 5th February, 1893 and he grew up to be a war hero and pilot not dissimilar to
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his creation. An early headmaster was a former army Major and Johns’ ambition was to become a soldier, but after leaving school he was stuck in mundane jobs — municipal surveyor and sanitary inspector. In 1913 he joined the Territorial Army, the Kings Own Royal Rifles, a cavalry regiment. When World War I broke out he married Maude Hunt and looked forward to battle envisioning it as an opportunity for “death or glory”. He soon learned there was a lot of death and little glory. Johns was shipped to Gallipoli aboard SS Olympic, on which he would have certainly passed and quite probably stopped at Gibraltar. He also served in Egypt and Greece with a machine gun corp. After recovering from malaria he transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force. In September 1917 he was sent back to
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I have done some new pages about Biggles. They are now in my archive — just waiting for a new publisher
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~ illustrator, Stig Stjernvik
It wasn’t Biggles’ creator W.E. Johns (above) who brought Biggles to Gibraltar — the daring pilot had to wait until 1984 for that honour
England to learn to fly. He survived numerous crashes and in April 1918 was sent to the Western Front to fly bombing missions over Germany. In September 1918 while on a flight to bomb Mannheim he was shot down by German fighters and taken prisoner. He was initially sentenced to death but was reprieved and released after the Armistice. Johns stayed in the RAF after the war but he left his wife and son. On the advice of her father, a reverend, Maude refused to give him a divorce. Johns continued to provide financial support until her death in 1961. By 1923 Johns was working as a recruitment officer in Birmingham and met and fell in love with Doris Leigh. They were unable to marry but she adopted the name Doris Johns and they remained together until his death. Johns left the RAF and became a newspaper correspondent and edited and illustrated books about flying. He created the magazine Popular Flying in 1932 and it was on those pages that Biggles made his first appearance. Undoubtedly Johns relied heavily on his own experiences in flight, battle and romance in his books. While based in France during the war he had an affair with a beautiful French woman and she appears in the Biggles books as Marie Janis. The first Biggles book, The Camels are Coming (the Sopwith bi-plane variety) was published in August 1932. For the early Biggles books Johns used the pen name William Earle but later adopted the by-line Capt W. E. Johns. The rank was self-awarded as the highest rank he had ever attained was that of Flying Officer, the equivalent of an army Lieutenant. Johns wrote 98 Biggles books and was in the midst of writing Biggles Does Some Homework when he stopped to make a cup of tea for himself and Doris. He joined her upstairs, sat down in his armchair and died of a massive heart attack. He was 75. Doris died a year later of Cancer. n
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • JULY 2013